Toy submarine



Dec. 1,r 1959 l.. w. FLEISCHMANN TOY SUBMARINE Filed June 24, 1958 om5.09 w... wm N Q Nm; m@

INVENTOR Lewis W. Fleischmann BY Sa/am ana/ Sia/ifa ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent TOY SUBMARINE Lewis W. Fleischmann, Baltimore, Md.,assignor of fifteen percent to Nelson H. Shapiro and live percent toHarvey A. Jacobs and Charles Jay Pilzer, jointly, all ofWashington, D.C.

Application June 24, 1958, Serial No. 744,216

16 Claims. (Cl. 46-243) This invention relates to a toy submarine andmore particularly to an electrically propelled toy submarine which iscapable of submerging and surfacing automatically and yet which is soconstructed that it cannot be lost by sinking entirely below the surfaceand failing to re-surface.

From its inception in the days of Leonardo da Vinci the submarine hasbeen an object of fascination for child and adult alike. In more recentyears interest in submarines has been spurred by their wide militaryusage. Hence, many attempts have been made to construct a toy submarinewhich will closely simulate the actions of its full-size counterpart.

In the early stages of toy submarine development, the vessels werepropelled by spring motors, and more recently electric moto-rs ofcompact and inexpensive construction have been used. However, theproblem of producing a toy submarine is not propulsion per se, butrather the means for causing the submarine to submerge and re-surface.In this respect the prior attempts to produce an operational andpractical toy submarine have not been successful. Various schemes havebeen proposed, including adjusting the bow planes so that the submarinewill dive when the motor is running (due to the force of the water onthe moving planes) and` will surface when the motor stops; providing agas generator or source which will force water from a submergedsubmarine and make it suiciently buoyant to surface; changing the centerof gravity of the submarine by a motor-driven weight;`

permitting the submarine to strike the bottom so as to release a weightand increase the buoyancy of the submarine; and many others. All ofthese schemes are impractical for one or more reasons. Moreover, few, ifany of them, ensure that the submarine will not be lost by sinking belowthe surface and failing to re-surface. The latter consideration is animportant one, because toy submarines are usually used by children, whocan ill afford their replacement.

In accordance with one prior art scheme of which the applicant is nowcognizant, it was proposed to provide an electrically-driven submarinehaving a valve controlled by a iioat within the hull for admitting Waterto the lower part of the hull, and a pump for expelling water from thehull upon the closing of the valve and the ener-l gization of the motor.As proposed, however, this scheme was not only impractical but wasinoperative, and so far as the applicant is aware no such operativesubmarine was everproposed or produced. y

With the foregoing in view, it is accordingly a principal object of thepresent invention to provide a unique and improved toy submarine whichis simple, practical, economical to build, substantially fool-proof, andwhich overcomes the deiiencies of the prior art.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a toy submarinewhich is capable of being propelled entirely on the surface of a body ofwater, or submerging and re-surfacing automatically, or submerging andremaining submerged, as it is propelled through the water.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy ice submarinewhich will closely and automatically simulate the submerging of afull-size submarine as it moves forward, and then the 1re-surfacing asthe forward movement is continued.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a toy submarinewhich will submerge to periscope depth but which will not sink entirelyfrom view.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel toy submarinedriven by an electric motor which also drives a pump-arranged to empty aballast tank having a limited capacity for water which enters through ailoatcontrolled valve.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a toy submarinehaving a float-controlled valve which may be positively placed in closedor open position and which may be held open notwithstanding theimmersion of the oat in water.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type which cannot sink even if the valve sticks open andeven if the pump stops working.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type having a ballast tank so located as to have littledeleterious effect upon the stability of the craft.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type with an extremely simple drive train for thepropeller and the pump.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a submarine of theforegoing type in which batteries employed for energizing the electricmotor are used as counter-balancing weights.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type in which Weights which are added to determine thebuoyancy ofthe submarine are formed to provide a shelter for the ballasttank valve opening.

A still further object of the invetnion is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregong type in which the float mechanism is housed within theconning tower so as to be shielded from view and yet readily accessiblefor operative manipulation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type in which a simulated periscope is employed as an airpassage for the ballast tank.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type having a centrifugal pump of highly efficientconstruction, which operates to pump water even with little centrifugingaction, and which requires no priming.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy submarine ofthe foregoing type which can be constructed almost entirely of plasticor sheet metal material and thus is readily adaptable to massproduction.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of theinvention will become more readily apparent and more fully understoodupon consideration of the following detailed description of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whichillusstrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation View of the toy submarine of the inventionpartially broken away to show the interior;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of a detail of the toy submarine;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pump of the invention;

Figure 3A is a vertical sectional view of the assembled pump; and

Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C are explanatory diagrams illustrating threealternative methods of operation of the toy submarine of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to Figure l thereof, thesubmarine of the invention comprises a hollow hull 10 which may bemolded from a high impact plastic, the halves of the hull divided alonga longitudinal vertical plane being separately molded and then joined toform the complete hull. The hull may also be formed from sheet metal, asby shaping the lower portion of the hull and joining it to the deckportion. The hull is provided with bow planes 12, Which may be formedintegrally with the sides of the hull, and with a superstructureincluding a conning tower 14, a periscope 16, and a deck gun 18. At therear of the hull is located a rudder 20 suspended from a vertical pivotrod 22. Forward of the rudder is a propeller 24 mounted on the end of adrive shaft 26 which passes into the interior of the hull through abearing sleeve 28, which may be formed integrally with a dependingsupporting iin 30.

Located within the central region of the hull is a ballast tank 32having a front wall 34 and a rear wall 36 spaced from the respectivefront and rear extremities of the hull so as to form front and rearcompartments within the hull. The ballast tank is located beneath theconning tower 14 and the periscope 16, and the periscope is hollow so asto provide an elongated air passage for communication between theinterior of the ballast tank and the atmosphere at the top of theperiscope. The ballast tank is sealed from the front and rearcompartments of the hull by the walls 34 and 36 and is closed at its topby the deck which forms the upper surface of the hull.

At the bottom of the ballast tank is located a valve generallydesignated 38 and having a valve seat or opening 40 and a movable valvebody 42. The val-ve seat may be formed integrally with the hull and thevalve body may comprise a conical plug of hard rubber or plastic whichis self-centering within the tapered valve opening. Alternatively, asimple poppet valve could be employed.

At the bottom of the hull beneath the ballast tank is a weight 44, whichmay be lead, which ensures that the center of gravity of the submarineis located substantially at the ballast tank and which ensures theproper buoyancy of the submarine as will be described more fullyhereinafter. The weight 44 shields the valve and provides a shelter 46for the valve opening. This shelter may be closed to deb-ris, but stillpermit the passage of water, by the provision of a section of screen 48fixed to the weight, as by molding it thereto. The weight may also beshaped to form a level support for the submarine when it is not in use.

The valve body 42 is attached to an operating rod 50 which extendsdownwardly from the conning tower through the ballast tank. The valverod may be formed from stiff piano wire, for example, and is suicientlyrigid to exert a force on the valve body 42 in both axial directions.The rod passes through a small bushing 52 in the deck of the submarineto a float 54 housed within the conning tower. The oat may be formed ofa plastic foam material, for example, and is supported on a yoke 56pivotally connected to vertical posts 58 mounted on the deck as morefully shown in Figure 2. The float may thus move up and down in theconning tower.

The upper end of valve rod 50 is pivotally attached to an arm 60pivotally attached to the float yoke, and motion of the oat in avertical plane is transmitted by the valve rod t) to the valve body 42.As shown in Figure 2, a spring 62 which is placed in tension wheninstalled is connected at one end between the junctions of the posts 58and the deck and at the other end between the upper extremities of thelegs of the yoke 56. In moving between its lower and upper positions,the float causes the legs of the yoke to move from one side of thevertical plane through the posts 58 to the other, and the spring 62snaps from one side of this plane to the other along with the yoke legs,so that the float mounting forms an over-center or toggle mechanismcapable of maintaining the oat in its up or down position in the absenceof a sut`n`cient opposing force on the float.

The oat 54 may be latched in its down position by a simple latch, which,in the form shown, comprises a U- shaped ring 64 with the ends of itslegs pivotally attached to a projection on the deck and with its bightarranged to receive a notched projection 66 attached to the lloat andpassing through a slot 68 in the conning tower as shown in Figure 2.

In order to permit water to reach the float, if the conning tower issubstantially closed as shown, openings 70 are provided in the bottom ofthe conning tower for the passage of water. The slot 68 may serve topermit the expulsion and admission of air with respect to the conningtower. Where esthetic considerations are not so important, the top andrear of the conning tower may be left substantially open and slots 70omitted.

In order to provide for the expulsion of water from the ballast tank 32,a pump 72 s mounted in the rear compartment behind the ballast tank. Inthe form shown the pump is a centrifugal type that is self-priming evenat high speeds and as can be seen more fully in Figure 3 has a generallycylindrical housing 74 (except for an involute bulge at one side) whichmay be formed integrally with one end closure and provided with a cover78 for closing the other end of the housing after the rotor 76 has beeninserted. The rotor has a circular disc 80 fitting the circularperiphery of the housing with working clearance, a central shaft 82, anda plurality of blades 84 normal to a surface of the disc and preferablyformed integrally with the shaft and the disc. The blades 84 extendinward from the disc periphery and have a length about 1/2 of the discradius. Each blade is inclined at about 15 to a radius passing throughthe central blade portion with the inner end of the blade leading. Fouropenings 85 pass through the disc between successive pairs of blades.One end of the shaft 82 passes through a central opening 86 in one endof the housing 74, and the other end of the shaft is received within acylindrical bearing cup 88 for-med in the other end of the housing.Suitable washers 90 are provided around the ends of the shaft, and theshaft end which passes through opening 86 is provided with a suitablepacking or at least closely tted to the opening so as to reduce leakageto a minimum. If there is any slight leakage from the pump into the rearcompartment of the hull, the water accumulated may be drained from thehull by opening a suitable drain plug or cork indicated generally at 91.

The inlet to the pump housing is located near the axis of the rotor andbelow the shaft 82, as shown at 92, and the outlet of the pump housingis located in the circumferential wall and at the top of the housing, asshown at 94. As shown in Figure l, the inlet is connected by an inletpipe 96 to the central portion of the bottom of the ballast tank 32,passing snugly through the rear wall of the ballast tank. The outlet 94is connected by an outlet pipe 98 which terminates in an opening to theexterior of the hull preferably at or near the deck level.

The pump 72 is driven by an electric motor 100 mounted in the hullbehind the pump and has its drive shaft coupled to the pump shaft as bya short length of spring 102 which may be soldered to the shafts. Thismotor s preferably of the compact inexpensive type now being widelyemployed as a source of toy boat propulsion. The other end of the motorshaft is coupled, as by a similar length of spring 104, to the end ofthepropeller drive shaft 26 which protrudes from the inner end of sleeve28. In this manner the motor is located close to the pump and to thepropeller and is able to drive both of these elements directly withoutthe interposition of gear trains or the like.

The motor 100 is energized from a 3-volt source of supply constituted bytwo 11/2 volt flashlight batteries gigas? 106, which arerflo'c'ated inthe forward compartment of the hull in' front' ofthe ballast tank 32.rlhese batteries are connected Vin series betweenA a pair ofy contacts108 and `110;` If` the hull is formed of` metal, contact 108 may belelectrically connected, as by soldering, directly to the hull, while thecontact 110 is .insulatedtherefromt With such an arrangement, the hulllitself may con`- stitute the return circuit for the battery, and nowires need be connected to terminal 108. If the hull is formed ofplastic, separate insulated wires are connected to terminals 108and110.` In the formshown it is assumed that a hull return circuit i-sused, .anda single wire 112 is shownpassing from'terminal 110` to oneterminal of a switch 113 mounted on the deck. The other terminal of theswitch vis connected bya wire 114 to one terminal of the motor 100, theother terminal of which is connected to the hull as indicated `at 116.If the wires pass through the ballast tank, suitable seals are of courseprovided to prevent leakage of water. A1- though a simple knife switchis shown,.a toggle switch or any other suitable type switch may beemployed. Suitable precautions must be taken, of course, to preventleakage of water around the switch into the hull.

In order to permit access to the battery compartment, a hatch isprovided at 118, and in the form shown the hatch cover supports the deckgun 18. Any suitable method of providing a waterproof hatch closure maybe used, and in the form indicated in Figure l, the deck gun constitutesa handle connected to a vertical shaft 120 which passes through thehatch cover to a flat link 122 pivotable through 90 degrees in ahorizontal plane so as to ride up onto cam inclines 124 lsecuredunderneath the deck on opposite sides of the hatch opening, and therebydraw the hatch cover tightly down onto the hatch opening.

With the batteries 106 in the forward compartment as shown,counter-balancing of the weight of the motor and pump is obtained. Agood balance may be ensured lby properly distributing the weights 44 atthe bottom of the hulland by placing weights elsewhere if necessary. Inthis manner both the center of gravity and the center of moments arelocated substantially at the ballast tank, and the stability thusobtained is not upset by water entering or leaving the tank.

In accordance with an important feature of the invention, the capacityof the ballast tank is so chosen that withl the tank completely lled,the submarine will not submerge below the level of the top of theperiscope. To ensure this result it is necessary to determine theinitial buoyancy of the submarine as a whole including the float, andthen to choose a tank size of sufficient capacityto permit the submarineto sink to periscope depth when the tank is full, but no farther. Thuseven if the valve 38 should stick open through some unforseen fault inopertion or if the pump should stall because of debris tangled in thepropeller 24, the submarine will still be sufciently visible toascertain its location. Moreover, any slight leakage which occurs aroundthe opening in the deck for valve rod S0 will be unimportant. This:feature completely eliminates the loss of the toy submarine by itssinking and failing to` re-surface. Such loss is common with prior toysubmarines when they are operated in large or deep ponds.

The toyV submarine of the invention may be set to execute at least threedifferent maneuvers which closely simulate the corresponding actions ofareal submarine. Assume with reference to Figure 4a that the submarine Sis placed on the surface of a body of water W at one shore A and pointedtoward the opposite shore B. Assume further that the float 54` is in itsdown position as shown in Figure l, and the latch 64, 66, is released.When the switch 112 is closed the motor 100 will be energized, causingthe propeller 24 to turn and causing vthe submarine to move in thedirection of-*thev opposite shore B. Water will enter the valve opening40 at the .flow into the pump 72 through the inlet pipe 96, the

air in the pump'housing being expelled. upwardly through the, outletpipe 98;k Eventually the pump housing; will be filled with water, andthe pump, driven by the same motor 100 which drivespropeller 24willoperate ati maximum eiciency, causing water to be expelled through theoutlet pipe 98 to the exterior of the hull. t By'f virtue of itsconstruction the pump needs no priming; andlicommences to pumpautomatically.

In accordance with another important, feature` ofthe inventionthe rateat which the. pump. 72can'- withdraw w-ater from the ballast tank 32 ismade less` than the vrate at which water can enter the tank when thevalve-38 is open. This; relationship is` obtained by predetermining thesize-,ofthe valve opening v40the air passage 1,6,l and the pump inletand outlet pipes 96 and 98, taking@A into consideration the capacity ofthe:V pump when driven at its normal speed by the motor 100. Thuswith'`the valve:` inthe ballast` tank open water. will continue-.to

-accumulate'in'the tank notwithstanding. the operation of the pump, andthe submarine willi continuetosubmerge as it movestoward the oppositeshore B.

Finally, vthe water` will reach the conning tower and enter the`openings 70, the air in the conning, towerbeing expelled through the`slot 68. Whenthe water level reaches the, float 54, the lioat. will beimmersed inthe water` and lwill rise dueto its4 inherent buoyancy,.tensing spring 62, which has insuicient restraining forcey `to prevent thefloat from rising. The upward4 movement of the floatcause's pivotalmovement of the yoke56 on posts 58, and when the. legsI of the,` yokepass their vertical position, the tension of spring 62 adds' to thebuoyant force on the floatand snaps the lioat to itsy up position,closiugfvalve 38. When this occurs, the sub.- marine is submerged withjust the. top portion of the conning tower exposed.

Thepump 72 continues to withdraw water from the v ballast tank, butsince the water may no longer enterA the ballast tank through the valveopening, the pumping rate is suflicient to expelsubstantially all ofthev water from the tank. During this: process, air isy admitted tothetank through the periscopey air passage, the buoyancy of thesubmarine is increased, and the submarine surfaces. Thus, the trip tothe distantshore will be completed on the surface, thevalve 38 remainingclosed under the action of the over-center float mounting. A return tripmay be made by simply turning the submarine around and manually settingthe float to its down position.

As indicated. in Figure 4b, the submarinemay also be operatedas, asurface vessel. For such operation of the submarine it is simplynecessary to ip theoat to its up position` before placing the submarinein the water. The valve 38 will then remain closed throughoutthe trip,and no water will enter the ballast tank.

As indicated in Figure 4c, the submarine canbeoperated submerged for theentire trip oncev it has submerged asv set forth with respect to Figure4a. To accomplish tbi'sthe oat is latchedin its down position by theYlatch mechanism 64, 66, so that the valve 38 will remain open. Theballast tank will then ill and will remain substan. tially fullthroughout the voyage, because the pump 72 is unable to pump out theballast tank with the valve open, as setj forth previously. With waterin the ballast tank throughout the trip, the submarine'willremainsubfmerged.

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatla unique and improved toy submarine is provided bythe present invention.It will be further apparent that while a preferred embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described, changes can be made withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope ofwhich is defined in the appended claims. For example, if it were desiredthat the submarine submerge to a greater extent before the oat isoperated, the water inlet holes 70 in the conning tower could be raisedabove the float in its down position, but this would necessitateremoving the accumulated water in the conning tower before the oat couldbe set in its down position again. Accordingly, the foregoing embodimentis to be considered illustrative, rather than restrictive of theinvention, and those modifications which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are to be included therein.

I claim: v

1. A toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, a float mounted on top said hull for upward anddownward movement and having means for holding it up or down in theabsence of a suicient external opposing force, a valve operatorconnected to said float and passing downwardly through said hull to saidwater inlet opening, a valve body attached to said operator and arrangedto open and close said opening in response to downward and upwardmovement of said oat, respectively, a pump in said hull having an inletin said tank and an outlet at the exterior of said hull, said oat beingexposed to the water surrounding said hull when the submarine issubmerged to the level of the lloat, and the buoyancy of said hull beingcorrelated with the capacity of said-tank such that said tank willreceive sufiicent water to cause the submarine to submerge to a level atwhich ksaid float is moved upwardly by the water surrounding said hull.

2. The submarine of claim 1, said oat having manually accessibleoperating means for moving it upward or downward.

3. A toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, a float mounted on top said hull for upward anddownward movement, the buoyancy of said hull and said oat-beingcorrelated with the total capacity of said tank such that said submarinewill not entirely sink below the surface of the surrounding water evenwhen said tank is full of water, a valve operator connected to saidfloat and passing downwardly through said hull to said water inletopening, a valve body attached to said operator and arranged to open andclose said opening in response yto downward and upward movement of saidfloat, respectively, a pump in said hull having an inlet in said tankand an outlet at the exterior of said hull, said float being exposed tothe water surrounding said hull when the submarine is submerged to thelevel of the float, and the buoyancy of said hull being correlated withthe capacity of said tank such that said tank will receive suicientwater to cause the submarine to submerge to a level at which said floatis moved upwardly by the water surrounding said hull.

4. The submarine of claim 3, further comprising manually accessiblereleasable latch means to hold said oat in its downward positionnotwithstanding its immersion in water.

5. A toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, a oat mounted on top said hull for upward anddownward movement, said oat having an over-center pivotal mountingarranged to hold said oat up or down, a valve operator connected to saidoat and passing downwardly through said hull to said water inletopening, a valve body attached to said operator and arranged to vopenand close said opening in response to downward and upward movement ofsaid oat, respectively, a pump in said hull having an inlet in said tankand an outlet at the exterior of said hull, said oat being exposed tothe water surrounding said hull when the submarine is submerged to thelevel of the float, and the buoyancy of said hull being correlated withthe capacity of said tank such that said tank will receive suicientwater to cause the submarine to submerge to a level at which said oat ismoved upwardly by the water surrounding said hull.

6. A toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, a float mounted on top said hull for upward anddownward movement, a valve operator connected to said oat and passingdownwardly through said hull to said water inlet opening, a valve bodyattached to said operator and arranged to open and close said opening inresponse to downward and upward movement of said oat, respectively, apump in said hull having an inlet in said tank and an outlet at theexterior of said hull, said pump having a pumping rate less than therate at which water can enter said water inlet opening, said float beingexposed to the water surrounding said hull when the submarine issubmerged to the level of the iloat, and the buoyancy of said hull beingcorrelated with the capacity of said tank such that said tank willreceive sufficient water to cause the submarine to submerge to a levelat which said oat is moved upwardly by the water surrounding said hull.

7. lA toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, a float mounted on top said hull for upward anddownward movement, a valve operator connected -to said float and passingdownwardly through said hull to said water inlet opening, a valve bodyattached to said operator and arranged to open and close said opening inresponse to downward and upward movement of said oat, respectively, apump in said hull having an inlet in said tank and an outlet at theexterior of said hull, said pump being the centrifugal type having ahousing and a rotor rotatable about a horizontal axis, said pump havingits outlet at the top of the housing and having its inlet near 4thebottom of said tank, whereby said pump is self-priming, said oat beingexposed to the water surrounding said hull when the submarine issubmerged to the level of the oat, and the buoyancy of said hull beingcorrelated with the capacity of siad tank such that said tank willreceive suicient water to cause the submarine to submerge to a level atwhich said float is moved upwardly by the water surrounding said hull.

8. The submarine of claim 7, said pump being of the type having acircular housing and a rotor with radial backwardly curved blades.

9. A toy submarine comprising an elongated at least partially hollowhull, a ballast tank within said hull having a water inlet openingadjacent its bottom and an air passage adjacent its top communicatingwith the atmosphere, said tank being located in the central region ofsaid hull and being spaced from the front and rear extremities of thehull, a float mounted on top said hull for upward and downward movement,a valve operator connected to said float and passing downwardly throughsaid hull to said water inlet opening, a valve body attached to saidoperator and arranged to open and Close said opening in response todownward and upward movement of said oat, respectively, a pump in saidhull having an inlet in said tank and an outlet at the exterior of saidhull, said float being exposed to the water surrounding said hull whenthe submarine is submerged to the level of the oat, and the buoyancy ofsaid hull being correiated with the capacity of said tank such that saidtank will receive sufficient water to cause the submarine to submerge toa level at which said float is moved upwardly by the Water surroundingsaid hull.

l0. The submarine of claim 9, said tank extending to the top of saidhull, and said valve operator comprising a rod extending through saidtank.

l1. The submarine of claim 9, said tank being located subs'tantially atthe center of gravity and center of moments of said submarine.

l2. The submarine of claim 9, said pump being driven by an electricmotor, said motor and pump being connected in tandem behind said tank,said submarine also having a propeller driven by said motor, said motorbeing energized by batteries located in front of said tank tocounterbalance said motor and pump.

13. The submarine of claim 9, said hull having a weight attached theretobelow said tank and formed to provide a shelter for said valve opening.

14. The submarine of claim 9, further comprising a simulated conningtower mounted on said hull above said tank, said float being housedwithin said conning tower, and said conning tower being formed to permitwater to reach said oat.

15. The submarine of claim 9, said submarine having a simulatedperiscope forming said air passage.

16. A toy submrine comprising an elongated hollow hull, a ballast tanklocated within the central region of said hull and having front and rearwalls spaced from the front and rear extremities of the hull,respectively, said tank having a water inlet opening at its bottom andan air passage at its top communicating with the atmosphere, lloatmounted on said hull above said tank for pivotal movement about ahorizontal axis, said float having a manually operable over-centerpivotal mounting arranged to hold said iloat up or down, a valve rodconnected to said oat and passing downwardly through said tank to saidwater inlet opening, a valve body attached to said rod and arranged toopen and close said opening in response to downward and upward movementof said float, respectively, a pump in said hull having an inlet in saidtank and an outlet at the exterior of said hull, said pump having apumping rate less than the rate at which water can enter said waterinlet opening, said oat being exposed to the water surrounding said hullwhen the submarine is submerged to the level of the float, the buoyancyof said hull being correlated with the capacity of said tank such thatsaid tank will receive sufiicient Water to cause the submarine tosubmerge to a level at which said float is moved upwardly by the watersurrounding said hull, and means including a motor for driving said pumpand propelling said submarine.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,089,888 Garrett Aug. l0, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 330,268 France July 26,1938

